View full sizeBETH NAKAMURA/THE OREGONIANA view from Molly Long’s property from the sidewalk in front of beekeeper Tim Wessels’ house — two of the front yard gardens on display for the Sabin walking tour. Nearly 30 homes willl have their front-gardens on display for Sabin neighborhoods summer-long, self-guided walking tour going on now.

The gardens all demonstrate bee-friendly techniques and ways to blend ornamentals and edibles.

Here’s a peek at four of the bee-friendly gardens, with profiles of the homeowners:

NAME: MOLLY LONG AND KURT BURKHOLDER
 
GARDEN HISTORY: Nine years ago, when Molly Long moved into husband Kurt Burkholder’s house, “The yard was quite the bachelor’s pad,” she says. “His favorite thing was two pampas grasses; he loved the privacy.” She wasn’t as enamored, though, and the sharp-leaved plants came out, along with a lot of buckled concrete and weeds.
 
STYLE: An old-fashioned, cottage-inspired garden with spires of purple foxglove, sprinkles of orange California poppies, white Shasta daisies and a generous bank of lavender tha t hums with bees. Her greatest compliment came from her 20-year-old son, who said, unbidden, “Mom, this is out of a magazine.”
 

View full sizeBETH NAKAMURA/THE OREGONIANMolly Long with her dog, Gromit.REASON FOR PARTICIPATING: In addition to considering it a neighborly thing to do, Long joined the tour to be a role model for having a chemical-free, critter-friendly garden.
 
LEAST-FAVORITE GARDEN TASK: If pressed, she’d say weeding. But really, “There’s nothing I don’t like to do,” Long says.
 
FAVORITE GARDEN TASK: Get the kitchen shears and cut bouquets.
 
TAKE-AWAY LESSON: For a less-expensive and lower-maintenance garden, grow plants that seed freely but are easy to weed selectively, such as foxglove, poppies and Mexican feather grass (Nassella tenuissima, syn. Stipa).
 
TIP: Don’t hesitate to move plants around if they’re not performing up to par. “People are quick to throw plants away,” Long says. “But they’ll usually flourish if you get them in the right place.”

 

View full sizeBETH NAKAMURA/THE OREGONIANSusana HollowayNAME: SUSANA HOLLOWAY AND CONG TRAN
 
GARDEN HISTORY: As co-owner of Portland’s Culinary Workshop, Susana Holloway wanted to grow edibles to use in the hands-on classes she and co-owner Melinda Casady teach. So, five years ago, she began looking for a home with an appropriate landscape. To do that, sun was necessary, but the houses she and her husband, Cong Tran, drove by were shaded with trees. “It is Portland, after all,” she says. “Then we pulled up to this place with no trees, no plants at all. A perfect blank canvas with all the sun I needed. ‘It’s perfect!’ I said. My husband is like, ‘Do you want to look inside?'” Eventually, the couple did, but it was the yard that sold Holloway.
 
STYLE: A corner lot stuffed with just about every vegetable or fruit you can think of, including asparagus, four varieties of grapes, three apple trees, five blueberries, herbs, 10 tomato plants, beans, greens, lettuces, potatoes. Dahlias, iris, daylilies and other edible flowers dot the garden, and a swath of sunflowers grows in front of the porch. “I planted some sunflower seeds three years ago, and the squirrels and birds spread them around. I had every intention of taking them out, but couldn’t do it.” Throughout the year, you’ll find veggies that have gone to seed. Holloway harvests three-quarters of what she grows and leaves the rest for bees and other insects.
 
REASON FOR PARTICIPATING: The teacher in her couldn’t resist. When Mace Vaughan of the Xerces Society sought Holloway out for the tour, she knew she wanted to share the satisfaction of growing fruits and vegetables. “The more people learn to grow and eat and taste something right out of the ground, the better.” It’s especially gratifying when children show interest. One day a little boy, about 3 or 4, “came up and said, ‘You have tomatoes.’ I said, ‘I know.’ I told him to go count all the yellow flowers. When he came running back, I told him that all those flowers would become tomatoes, too. “It was a teaching moment,” Holloway says.
 
LEAST-FAVORITE GARDEN TASK: Pulling things up; thinning. “I can grow anything,” she says, “but I can’t kill anything.”
 
FAVORITE GARDEN TASK: I love planting and harvesting,” Holloway says. “I have a hoop system and Kozy Koats so I can harvest as early as possible.”
 
TAKE-AWAY LESSON: If you grow produce in the parking strip or front yard, don’t assume people will steal your harvest. In the five years she’s gardened on a corner lot a block from Sabin School, Holloway has had only one eggplant go missing: “I say, well, that will get more vegetables in their lives. I hope that eggplant was really good.”
 
TIP: Sun, sun, sun, sun. “‘How much sun?’ is the thing people ask me all the time,” she says. “I tell them they have to have at least eight hours of sun. Also, I don’t water as much as people think. Once or twice a week, very deeply, is enough.”

 

View full sizeBETH NAKAMURA/THE OREGONIANDena LIebermanNAME: DENA AND NOAH LIEBERMAN
 
GARDEN HISTORY: When she was about 6 years old, Dena Lieberman’s father turned over a little space in the garden just for her. “I did an entire patch of zinnias,” she says, “From then on out, I’ve loved flowers. It’s my relaxation. Gardening allows me to step back, to breathe more.” Five years ago she and her husband, Noah, bought a house with a yard that was “basic grass with little balls of manicured shrubs.” Dena transformed the space into a lively garden full of blooming plants. Now she’s about to realize her dream of starting a flower farm on a half-acre plot in the Cully neighborhood, taking along her preschool that she runs out of her home, where she and her family will continue to live.
 
STYLE: Heavy on perennials, herbs and returning annuals, with shrubs and edibles making an appearance, too. Though she doesn’t draw a plan, Dena Lieberman intuitively knows what to plant where. Of course, that doesn’t mean she’ll pass by a plant in the nursery that calls out to her. The end result offers beauty and an outdoor classroom for her young charges. “The garden is full of calendula now,” she says. “I’m harvesting with the kids and making a salve. I really enjoy having children be a part of that.”
 
REASON FOR PARTICIPATING: Organizers of the tour asked Lieberman to be on it. “I’m fascinated with bees and had started reading and learning about them,” she says. “When they said my garden is already great for bees, I was delighted and honored.”
 
LEAST-FAVORITE GARDEN TASK: “I’d have to make it up,” she says. “Gardening makes me happy; even weeding the flower beds because I’m caring for it.”
FAVORITE GARDEN TASK: Lieberman can’t think of anything she doesn’t like doing in the garden. She’s content among the plants; spiffing up the garden helps her relax. Deadheading tops her list because it keeps her among the flowers.
 
TAKE-AWAY LESSON: Echinacea blooms really bring the bees. “They’re all over it, a globe of bees,” she says.
 
TIP: Plant lots of herbs. There doesn’t seem to be an herb that bees don’t like. Lieberman planted catmint, lavender and rosemary.

 

View full sizeBETH NAKAMURA/THE OREGONIANTim WesselsNAME: TIM WESSELS
 
GARDEN HISTORY: As a passionate beekeeper, Tim Wessels focuses on plants that provide pollen and nectar for his favorite insects. His grandfather kept bees, so his interest came naturally. When he retired in 2010, Wessels started adding hives to his backyard and now has nine, “much to the dismay of my wife,” says Wessels. He is president of Portland Urban Beekeepers, works as the bee specialist at Livingscape in North Portland, and maintains hives in other people’s yards.
 
STYLE: Wessels and his wife, Julie Winczewski, are passionate about eating out of their garden, which Wessels began planting when they moved in 32 years ago. The now-lush corner lot shows that edibles can combine with ornamentals to create a beautiful landscape. Tomatoes, greens, blueberries, raspberries, apples, squash, leeks, onions, garlic and cover crops such as crimson clover and fava beans mingle with blanket flower, aster, echinacea, sedum and a blue hardy geranium named ‘Rozanne.’
 
REASON FOR PARTICIPATING: Wessels wants people to see that bee-friendly plants can be beautiful, and many of them provide food. “They’ll think, ‘Oh, that’s easy; that’s something I can do,'” he says. “Maybe they’ll tear up some lawn or their parking strip and plant plants that are easy to maintain and good for the bees.”
 
LEAST-FAVORITE GARDEN TASK: “Weeding” is his answer. “But my wife loves to weed. I say, ‘More power to you.’ “
 
FAVORITE GARDEN TASK: Growing food. “I love it, absolutely love it,” he says. “This year I built a hoop house and grew vegetables all year-round.”
 
TAKE-AWAY LESSON: Attracting bees is good for you, as well as the bees. “It’s a complementary thing,” says Wessels, who noticed a big difference in his raspberries when he added beehives to his garden. “They were very delicious, but the production wasn’t that good. Now, I have two or three times the raspberries and bigger fruit.”
 
TIP: Plant late-blooming plants such as salvia and aster to feed bees when they really need it. “Everything flourishes in spring and then sort of poops out,” Wessels says. “You want to spread the wealth around.”

Kym Pokorny: 503-221-8205; kpokorny@oregonian.com; oregonlive.com/pokorny; twitter.com/diginwithkym; facebook.com/homesandgardensnw

MORE:

Check out our story on the tour with a slide show on some of the gardens, a video and more information on bees.

Flickr – Photo by Gilles Gonthler

Whether you call them groundhogs,  woodchucks, whistle-pigs, or land-beavers, if you are a New Jersey gardener you know what they are capable of. Nothing can catapult you into a state of Elmer Fudd obsessiveness more quickly, then the destruction caused from a groundhog.

I fell victim to one this year, even though I have my garden fenced in, one got in and over the course of just one night, he was able to sample 5 cabbages, 4 collards, and all of my cucumbers. I am sad to report none of these veggies survived.

Here’s what to do if you have a groundhog wreaking havoc on your garden. If you are wondering, it is true that their is no poison that will kill a groundhog.  They simply just throw it up and go back to eating your plants and vegetables.

Annoy Them Until They Leave

Believe it or not, this seems to be somewhat effective.  If you know where their borrow is, you can sometimes get them to leave by simply annoying them.

They are very sensitive regarding the cleanliness of their homes. The most effective solution may be to find someone with a cat and ask them to save what they clean out of the litter box.  Dump that into their burrow daily until they get fed up and leave.

You can also try other annoyances such as gravel, fertilizer, or a radio playing consistently (obviously not tuned to NJ101.5 as they would just enjoy it and stay put).

Trap Them

You can get a Have-a-heart trap and use some birdseed placed under the back part of the cage.  Set this up in your garden if you know they are getting in and use a birdseed with peanuts mixed in as it is extremely attractive to them.

Don’t set a trap as insurance if you don’t see them around. It will most likely just draw them in. Only set a trap if you see signs of one. Once they know of a food source they will return until it is gone.

Remember that it is illegal to relocate an animal in NJ, and often they won’t survive anyway. Your options are to shoot it, if you have enough space and a gun.  You may also be able to find a company that will come euthanize it for a fee or possibly your local vet. That’s it. Anything short of letting it go on your property or exterminating it humanly is probably considered animal cruelty.

Fencing

For me this is the best solution to protect your hard work.  If it’s done right it will work 100% of the time. Mine failed this year because it wasn’t tied up in one little spot and had fallen over. In previous years I have never had a problem.

You’ll need chicken wire, which is a cheap roll of woven metal that can be found in garden centers or farm supply stores. It may also go by poultry netting and it has a hexagonal pattern to it.  Buy a roll at least 5ft in height and some metal stakes about half the height of the wire.

The biggest trick here is making an “L” shape with the fencing that is at least 3 feet high and about a foot or two running along the ground.  You can tie this up to the metal stakes using plastic zip ties and cut on a diagonal at each corner leading back to the stake to help with making the turn.

Once this is set up you can add stone or dirt around the base to hold the bottom flare of the fence down to the ground. Make sure there is enough support from the stakes to keep the centers from flopping over.

The groundhog wont be able to chew through the metal fencing and when they go to dig underneath, they will quickly stop once they hit the chicken wire as it will feel terrible on their claws. They are not smart enough to burrow from 2 feet back, and they are too fat to climb over the 3 foot fence.

All in all, there really isn’t a perfect solution.  You can’t always make a fence because, let’s face it, the type of fence that works is pretty ugly and only work for designated areas such as veggie gardens. If you don’t have the means to exterminate it, then trapping it will only work a handful of times before the little guy catches on.

If you have a solution that worked for you or if you just want to vent about your groundhog problems, let us know in the comment section below.

Send your lawn and garden questions to me at chris.eannucci@townsquaremedia.com

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While many people love to plant a summer garden, the hot and humid season often feels like the most difficult time of year for plants to thrive.

So what can we do during these hot, humid and frequently drought-prone months to keep our gardens from baking in the sun?

We turn to Norman Winter, executive director of the Columbus Botanical Gardens, who knows his way around a garden.

For the past 30 years, Winter has worked in horticulture throughout the Southeast, mostly in his native Texas, where he most recently served as director of the National Butterfly Center.

What to plant

Winter’s first piece of advice is to look for plants that can tolerate heat and drought conditions.

“Right now, of course, we’ve been in some sweltering heat. And so you think about, ‘What can take a sweltering heat?’ And maybe the lack of water?,” said Winter. “You think about native plants, from the standpoint of trees and shrubs.”

Winter recommends the native Weeping Yaupon, which yields berries that feed about nine species of birds, and the Southern Wax Myrtle, a native shrub whose female plants produce blueberries that feed 40 species of birds and can be used to make bay-scented candles. Winter said he often sees the Southern Wax Myrtles used in multiples to create a privacy screen. The Sweet Bay Magnolia is another tree that thrives in this region.

species of birds, and the Southern Wax Myrtle, a native shrub whose female plants produce blueberries that feed 40 species of birds and can be used to make bay-scented candles. Winter said he often sees the Southern Wax Myrtles used in multiples to create a privacy screen. The Sweet Bay Magnolia is another tree that thrives in this region.

“Some of the flowers that are really showing out right now in the landscapes across town, of course lantanas are always showing out,” said Winter, adding that most people think of the award-winning gold lantana, but there are many multicolored ones as well. “And those are attractive to hummingbirds and butterflies, they’re drought-tolerant, they’re tough. So those are great.”

Winter said he’s also seen a lot of commercial landscapes utilizing rudbeckias (also called Black-Eyed Susan or Gloriosa Daisy).

“They bloom for months and they’re blooming right now in the hottest part of the year,” he said.

For shade gardens, Winter likes begonias because they bloom all summer and have a tropical look, especially the Dragon Wing Begonia.

“It can give you that little touch of paradise or that little Caribbean feel if you had that in a shade garden, maybe with some elephant ears or bananas,” Winter said.

Vegetable gardens are in a bit of a transition period right now, but Winter said it’s not too late to start thinking about a fall vegetable garden. Plants like tomatoes will need to be planted in August for a November harvest, while produce such as broccoli and cauliflower that mature faster can be planted a little later.

Winter said the key is to calculate how long you want the plant to produce and how long it takes the produce, then count backwards from when the first frost can be expected to determine when to plant.

Caring for plants

For plants that are already established, Winter said now is the time to be pinching and pruning “to help stimulate some new growth.”

And despite popular belief, Winter said it is perfectly okay to plant shrubs and trees during the summer, or any time of year, because most plants we buy at the nursery are grown in containers, are healthy and retain their entire root system. That makes adjusting to implantation easier than if they were dug up and had severed roots.

“The key to the green thumb is how brown it gets first — soil preparation,” he said.

In addition to amended soil, Winter said plants should be planted to the same depth of the container they came in, otherwise they can suffocate.

He also advises deep watering to create deep roots.

“Here’s how it works: you water deeply, then you don’t water,” said Winter. “As that water starts to evaporate on top … what do the roots of that plant do if the water’s gone right (at the surface)? They go deeper where the water is … So then you’re building a tough plant.”

While there is no right time to water (“I will always tell people, ‘Water is better than not having water.'”), Winter is a morning waterer because he likes to get out and get it done early. But there is a right way to water: at the bottom of the plant.

“I like to keep foliage dry from the standpoint of disease,” he said. “When you keep a leaf wet, then you can have that fungal spore come in and germinate.”

Select the right azalea for your location, says Tom Houser, senior gardener at Norfolk Botanical Garden, which has almost 4,000 azalea plants of all colors and types.

Azaleas come in a wide variety of sizes; one of the most common mistakes homeowners make is purchasing an azalea that becomes too large for the location they’ve selected. If you want to maintain an azalea at 4 feet (to stay below a window for example) make sure you pick an azalea with a maximum advertised height (at maturity) in that range.

There are several basic types or families of azaleas. Keeping things simple………… Kurume and Satsuki azaleas are native to Japan. They are general quite cold tolerant. Satsuki translates as “fifth moon”, they are late bloomers and there are many dwarf (i.e. Gumpo) varieties. Despite their name, Southern Indica azaleas are also native to Japan – when it was known as the East Indies. They are generally a more heat tolerant azalea.

One other significant family of azaleas in Hampton Roads is the Glenn Dale, named for the city in Maryland where they are bred.

They are all capable of doing equally well in our area. There are few absolutes when it comes to azaleas, but as a rule azaleas from the Indica family (which the Glenn Dales were bred from) have coarser and somewhat less attractive foliage than the Kurumes and Satsukis but generally have larger and more abundant blooms. The glossier and smaller leaf of the azaleas within the Kurume and Satuski families combined with a more stately habit make them more attractive azaleas overall, he says.

Buy any plant, but particularly trees and shrubs, from a reputable nursery. Regardless of where you buy your azalea, it is critical that you make sure it is not “root bound.” You should be able to carefully and gently remove the azalea at least partially from the container to check on the roots. If you can’t easily pull the plant from the container, please ask for assistance from a salesperson. If they either can’t or won’t pull it – move on to another plant. If you do remove it and all you can see is a mass of roots winding around in circles from being container bound – move on to another plant. If you see roots exploding from the drainage holes on the bottom of the container – move on to another plant.

Select the right location for your azalea. Azaleas prefer to have some shade, but will not bloom well in deep shade. Dappled sunlight is ideal. Azaleas prefer soil that is slightly acidic – most soil in the Tidewater area is already slightly acidic and does not require modification. I have planted hundreds of azaleas at NBG and have never modified or adjusted PH, or soil acidity, in the soil. They prefer soil that is high in organic matter and do not do well in clay. The site must have good drainage! Poor drainage/standing water has killed more azaleas than any other single problem or pest that I can think of. If you don’t remember anything else here – remember that azaleas need well drained soil!

Plant the azalea properly. Azaleas should be planted 1 or 2 inches above ground level, creating a slight “mounding effect”. Dig the hole 3 times the width of the container and only as deeply as you need to create the mounding effect. Gently “free” the roots on the azalea before planting. Water in as soon as practical – and ensure the first watering is a generous one! Azaleas can be planted in the spring, but as with most trees and shrubs a fall (Oct-Dec) planting is preferable and more likely to succeed. Make sure you keep them watered even if you plant in the fall – plants that aren’t well established will require water regardless of outdoor temperatures.

Conventional fertilization is unnecessary if you have good soil. Top dressing with high quality compost once a year should be more than sufficient, and if your plants are located in a wooded area where they are getting an annual dose of leaf mulch from falling leaves even that is unnecessary. I discourage the practice of fertilizing with available commercial fertilizers – if you feel there is a genuine need to fertilize your azaleas I recommend a high quality organic (ie chicken manure) product that is designed for slow release. I work with thousands of azaleas at Norfolk Botanical Garden (NBG) and do not routinely fertilize any of them.

If you want to extend your bloom period, do some research and buy a variety of azaleas that will bloom at different times. In my areas at NBG I have some early varieties that routinely start blooming in early March and some late-blooming varieties that are still in full bloom in mid-June. The vast majority of azaleas in this area bloom at some point in April depending on the weather cycle. “Encore” azaleas have become popular recently because they are capable of blooming twice a year (spring and fall) and sporadically in between. Personally I’m not that impressed with what I’ve seen so far – some I’ve dealt with required an inordinate amount of water to get established, and I’ve also seen a lot of them that were poorly propagated by commercial nurseries in their haste to get them to retail outlets.

The best time to prune an azalea is as soon as possible after they bloom. Making precise cuts with hand pruners is time consuming but will have the best results. NBG’s Education Department has pruning classes at various times throughout the year, I highly recommend these classes to homeowners who are interested in learning to properly prune azaleas – as well as other shrubs and plants they have in their yard. Certain types of azaleas can be successfully trimmed with hedge shears. Gas powered equipment should only be used for specific situations. I cringe when I see azaleas cut into shapes like boxes or “meatballs” – azaleas bloom better and will have healthier (and more attractive!) lives if they are properly pruned. In situations where azaleas have gotten out of control or have been neglected, they can be “renovated” by cutting them down almost to ground level using loppers and/or a hand saw. Ensure your tools are clean and sharp! If you renovate shortly after the plant blooms, you will see fresh buds with 6 weeks – the plant will have a few blooms the following year and by the second year it should have almost a full bloom set.

The most exciting recent trend with azaleas is the growth in the “native” azalea market. The popularity of South Indian and Japanese azaleas was always based on the fact that they are evergreen, making them more acceptable for traditional (and IMHO frequently boring!) foundation plantings by homeowners. Native azaleas are deciduous and drop their leaves in the fall. However, native azaleas have several characteristics that non-natives just can’t match. Some produce blooms that are highly fragrant along the lines of a plant like a gardenia, osmanthus or Japanese apricot – their fragrance is wonderful! In my opinion, most native azaleas have a much more majestic and stately growth habit – the random structure of some varieties reminds me of mountain laurel. Some native azaleas and cultivars derived from them come in spectacular colors such as deep orange and yellow, colors that simply are not found in non-natives. And if you don’t have any shady spots available in your yard, many natives not only survive in full sun – they thrive in it! And lace bugs (the only insect pest we really have on azaleas at NBG) are not an issue with native azaleas. The icing on the cake to me is the simple fact that native azaleas are……. native. Utilizing native plants in your home landscape is a critical part of helping support and sustain our local ecosystem.

Native azaleas will be the signature plant for the Norfolk Botanical Garden 75^th anniversary plant sale next Mother’s Day weekend – there will be several varieties available for purchase. Native azaleas are still hard to find in the commercial market so this is a somewhat rare opportunity to purchase one.

Learn more: Norfolk Botanical Garden at www.norfolkbotanicalgarden.org.

Posted by Kathy Van Mullekom;  kvanmullekom@aol.com

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Whether you want grapes for the table or the wine bottle, you’ll find that advanced planning and tender care will produce a consistent bounty.

Contra Costa Master Gardeners Brad Miller and Jim DeFrisco shared their tips for growing all varieties of grapes at this week’s Our Garden class. Here are their suggestions.

Before planting your grapes, you need to consider several factors, the first of which is where you will grow them. Grapes need at least eight hours of full sun, and they need to be in a spot where the water can be controlled. The sun, Miller says, is what determines the sweetness of the grape, something important for both table and wine grapes. Ideally, Miller says, the only water going onto your grapes should be from the sky or through irrigation, so avoid areas that get runoff.

If growing table grapes, plant near an existing support — a patio, a trellis or an arbor. If growing wine grapes, you’ll need a larger area and a sturdy trellis. Vines do well when planted in rows with plenty of room to spread out. The plants should be four to six feet apart, and rows should be six to eight feet apart.

Most Bay Area soils are perfect for grapes, which need a pH level of 6.0 to 7.5. Soil should be amended and any hardpan broken up in preparation for planting, but the vines won’t need a lot of extras in the soil.

Grapes are planted in the spring after the danger of frost has passed. Depending on the variety, harvesting is in July, August or September. Although grapes prefer the heat, there are varieties that grow well in the cooler areas along the shore.

Grapes do not have an extended harvest. When they’re ripe, they’re all ripe. To have grapes over a longer period, plant several varieties that ripen at different times.

Judging ripeness for table grapes is easy, DeFrisco says. Pick some and if they taste ready, they are. Wine grapes are more difficult to judge, although DeFrisco says a sudden influx of birds and raccoons is a good indication.

Protect your harvest from birds with netting — and be sure to tie beneath the vines. For raccoons and deer, the best results are achieved with an electric fence or shock wire.

Although some pruning is done in the spring and summer to thin the growth and ensure good production, heavy pruning is done in the winter when the vines are dormant. Up to 90 percent of that year’s grow is removed.

There are two main methods of pruning. In spur pruning, canes are cut back to leave short spurs with two to three buds. The spurs are spaced a few inches apart on the main vine. In cane pruning, the canes are thinned but are left long with many buds.

The first two to three buds on the canes usually aren’t fruitful, the next five to seven are, and the ones on the ends of the cane aren’t. In the Bay Area, canes usually receive enough sun to make those first buds fruitful, which is why spur pruning is more typical here than cane pruning. Both are appropriate, however.

When growing grapes, it’s important, Miller and DeFrisco say, to build a strong trunk and to train the vines in their first few years. That means you’ll be snipping off blooms and pruning for strength during that time, foregoing the harvest. But once established, cared for grape vines will consistently produce.

Next time

Join us for a discussion on the care and growing of roses.

The free classes are at 10 a.m. Wednesdays at the Contra Costa Times, 2640 Shadelands Drive, Walnut Creek. Master gardeners are on hand to answer questions, diagnose sick plants and identify pests. Vegetable and ornamental plants also are available for sale.

— Joan Morris

Like us at Facebook.com/bang.home.garden; follow us at Twitter.com/gardeneditor.

Drought, record temperatures — it’s a crazy summer, and we’re only halfway through it. While waiting anxiously for a good soaking rain, home gardeners are struggling to keep their veggie plots green and tomatoes on the table.

We asked Renee Shepherd, owner of Renee’s Garden seed company and a gardening guru, for tips to help save our vegetables this long, hot season.

Are you experiencing low rainfall where you live?

I live in Northern California, and it is very dry in the summer normally. All our annual rain comes in the winter months through early spring, and then it dries up for the summer, every summer. We are big on water-saving drip irrigation in our area, because you have to provide provide supplemental water every season to have a veggie garden at all.

Is this the worst growing season you remember?

I’m so sorry for everyone in the extreme drought areas this summer. We have heard from lots of gardeners who are being affected not only by drought but by the extreme heat of the last month. Since we are summer-dry normally, we are not experiencing unusual problems because of drought. What we are worrying about more about is high fire danger this season.

What can home gardeners do to save their veggie patch?

Mulching the veggie patch with a 2- to 4-inch-thick layer of organic mulch will help. Use what ever materials available in your area. Examples of mulch materials include: straw, compost, shredded bark; in other words, whatever rough organic material is available to provide insulation from the heat and keep moisture from evaporating. I’ve even heard of people using shredded newspaper effectively where nothing else is available.

Where possible, provide some afternoon shade where the sun is intense. Install a simple drip irrigation system that uses water efficiently, and only at the plants’ root systems, where it’s needed.

Drip irrigation is the best method of keeping things alive where and whenever water is scarce and expensive. Combined with a heavy mulch, it is the most water-saving way of keeping plants alive. It’s also not expensive or complicated for home gardeners to work with.

Are you battling to keep your garden alive this summer? Any tips to add?

Growing a Vegetable Garden

Windowsill Herb Gardens

Photo: USDA

Decorating Tip: A feng-shui entrance

For a feng-shui entrance to your home, follow these tips:

– Include uplifting “greeters,” such as a waterfall or piece of artwork.

– Place inspiring objects leading up to the front door, like a meandering pathway and flowers.

– Add plants, especially evergreens, which will stay lush all year.

— HGTV/ Scripps Howard News Service

Home-Selling Tip: Fixer-up repairs

Before putting your house on the market, take some time to repair broken windows, a leaky roof, broken light fixtures and anything else that needs repair. Investing your time and money in these repairs now will help you reap top dollar when home buyers are making offers. Other things to look for include leaky faucets, squeaky doors and bad paint jobs.

— FrontDoor.com

Going Green: Composting saves school money, waste

Five New York City parents decided to take matters into their own hands when they saw how much food waste was being dumped into the landfills from public schools. Together, they started school composting programs, which reduced the local schools’ cafeteria waste by 85 percent. The team estimates that if the entire NYC school system would switch to composting, they would save $1 million in garbage bags and $1.1 million in disposal fees.

— Earth911.com

Did You Know …

The national median existing-home price is expected to rise 3 percent this year and another 5.7 percent in 2013. — Realtor.org

New Product: Samsung Galaxy S III

The Consumer Reports Electronics Blog calls the Samsung Galaxy S III “one of the most advanced Android smartphones” on the market. The blog also says, with this phone, Samsung “unseats HTC from the highest position” on its smartphone ratings from ATT, Sprint and T-Mobile. The Galaxy boasts a 4.8-inch, high-definition touchscreen; an 8-megapixel camera that produces superior-quality photos; and gesture- and sensor-based tools.

Garden Guide: Growing vertical fruit

Pole beans and peas are good vertical vegetables because they do not need much encouragement to twine around supports. Tomatoes also lend themselves well to this type of gardening. Cages are often used with tomatoes, but they also can be trained onto a vertical, flat support. They may, however, occasionally need to be tied to a vertical support because they do not climb naturally.

— University of Illinois Extension

Lake Effect | Jul 19, 2012

Even with a break in the heat wave, the summer continues to be one to remember for its record-high temperatures and extended drought. And even if – by this time next year – we have forgotten, our plants may still be reeling from the effects of this summer.

Melinda Myers is our regular gardening contributor. She’s written numerous books on gardening – but, in a past life, she was the City of Milwaukee’s Assistant City Forester. So she and Lake Effect’s Mitch Teich start this month’s conversation with another pressing concern – the news that the invasive Emerald Ash Borer has been found in trees within the City of Milwaukee.

Myers is the author of numerous books on gardening, including Month-by-Month Gardening in Wisconsin. She’s also host of “Melinda’s Garden Moments” on television. Melinda is also hosting a series of walks at Boerner Botanical Gardens throughout the summer and fall.

POUND RIDGE, N.Y. — It’s not too early to start planning for your fall garden, so those with a green thumb can head to Poundridge Nurseries for planting ideas.

The nursery offers everything from trees and shrubs to annuals and perennials, as well as gardening supplies and decorations. For Westchester residents, it’s important to choose plants that will survive despite the presence of some unwelcome visitors.

“The big deal around here is that deer eat everything,” said Brady Hayes, the general manager of Poundridge Nurseries. He recommends planting trees and shrubs, particularly boxwood and andromeda, which deer tend to avoid.

Sarah Young, the department manager who works with the flowers, also has recommendations for customers with deer problems.

“Perovskia are repellent to deer — they hate the smell of them,” she said of the blue-purple Russian sage. Lavender is also an option, although it is more difficult to grow on property with irrigation systems.

For first-time gardeners, Poundridge Nurseries offers many services to transform an outdoor space.

“We recommend that customers have a designer come over,” said Hayes. Having a landscape design can have several benefits, as it customizes the garden to the needs of the land and the preferences of the owner.

Those who are unsure of which plants to purchase can go to Young for recommendations.

“Everybody loves Echinacea, which are coneflowers,” she said. “Customers seem to like anything that resembles a daisy.” Rudbeckia are vibrant yellow coneflowers that are also popular to brighten up any garden.

When the weather begins to cool down, the nursery has more cold-weather vegetables available for customers to grow, such as cabbage and kale. The nursery sells plants already grown, but many choose to grow their own from seeds.

“A lot of customers like organic vegetables,” Young said. “They like to try to do their own seeding.”

Planting is best in the fall and spring, so those who wish to garden in the summer heat must be even more diligent with watering and maintaining their plants.

For more tips and gardening ideas, visit the Poundridge Nurseries website. 

EASTON (CBS) – Everyone is worried about the spread of EEE, especially farmers who are growing bountiful amounts of flowers, fruits and vegetables.

WBZ NewRadio 1030′s Karen Twomey reports:

Although the controversial insecticides will be used, amateur gardeners should not be concerned about the aerial mosquito spraying that is planned for 21 communities in southeastern Massachusetts, as long as they take the necessary precautions.

“It’s one of those things where what’s the lesser of all of the evils,” said Todd Sandstrom, aka Farmer Todd, an agricultural engineer at Flynn’s Farm in Easton.

Langwater Farm is a certified organic farm and owner Rory O’Dwyer is concerned about EEE, but also wants to make sure her crops stay free of chemicals.

“We are very exposed to this danger, but on the other hand I feel like synthetic chemicals have caused so much damage in the world, and that’s part of why I became an organic farmer,” explains O’Dwyer.

It was decided that the aerial spraying would take place after a second batch of EEE-infected mosquitoes turned up in Easton.

“They are not just going to go willy-nilly and start spraying something unless there’s a need, and ya there is a need right now,” said Sandstrom.

Even though it is necessary, Sandstrom says he understands why amateur gardeners may be concerned about the effects the spraying will have on their gardens.

“They may want to get something that’s called Row Cloth, or you can also use something like cheese cloth. Something that’s really light-weight and airy, and just drape it over their plants.  One of the things they are going to want to do as soon as the sun starts to break get it off,” explains Sandstrom.

Another important word of advice that he has: wash everything before you eat it.

“You know it’s just like anything you buy in the store, you know you’re going to want to wash it before your eat it,” said Sandstrom.